Payment protection on disputed payment

kulkarniniraj · ‎01-01-2021

Hi,

I was hired for an urgent task (fixed amount) to be complete in 18-20 hours (on Dec 3th). On Dec 4th I submitted the work at around 9.30 AM and then I got an account on hold mail from Upwork at 9.57 AM.

Initially I was promised a resolution within a few days and I continued my other work. Yesterday I noticed that I still get "transactions limited" message and my funds have not been auto-transferred.

On contacting support they answered that payment done from an unverified payment method are not protected.

I have a few questions about this matter:

1. Is there any way to know if payment from client will be verified or not?

2. Is there any time limit to wait before submitting the work to ensure protection?

3. What protection does upwork offer in case of unverified payment method overall and especially if task is to be delivered in very short time? If no protection is offered in this case, isn't flat 20% charge unjustified?

Regards

Niraj

petra_r · ‎01-01-2021

Niraj K wrote:
1. Is there any way to know if payment from client will be verified or not?
2. Is there any time limit to wait before submitting the work to ensure protection?
3. What protection does upwork offer in case of unverified payment method overall

1. It tells you above the contract details if it is not verified, you also get an email.

2. No, unless the payment method is verified, you don't accept the contract and don't do any work until it is verified.

3. If the client's payment method was verified when you accepted the contract, you have the normal fixed price protection (for what that is worth)

If the client's payment method was NOT verified when you accepted the contract, you'd never have been able to get paid unless the client verified their payment method.

Your situation sounds different though because a client's payment method being or becoming unverified does not normally lead to the freelancer's account being suspended....

Niraj K wrote:
I was hired for an urgent task (fixed amount) to be complete in 18-20 hours (on Dec 3th). On Dec 4th I submitted the work at around 9.30 AM and then I got an account on hold mail from Upwork at 9.57 AM.

account on hold or contract on hold? Was that contract for an unusually high amount?

kulkarniniraj · ‎01-02-2021

account on hold or contract on hold? Was that contract for an unusually high amount?

Contract on hold and withdrawals restricted. No unusual amounts here.
In fact there was a milestone approval a day after contract was put on hold, so not sure what exactly was put on hold.

Would be great if a warning mail is sent while accepting contract if payment is not verified. I checked and did not get any such mail for this contract.

petra_r · ‎01-02-2021

Niraj K wrote:
account on hold or contract on hold? Was that contract for an unusually high amount?
Contract on hold and withdrawals restricted. In fact there was a milestone approval a day after contract was put on hold.

That means the payment method was originally verified, otherwise there is no way the milestone could have been approved.

You have far bigger problems now your account is suspended though.

kulkarniniraj · ‎01-03-2021

Well I had to refund that client as advised by support to continue with other projects. Financial restrictions are still in place, but I'll wait a day more for that.

But overall this was a disgusting experience.

AleksandarD · ‎01-02-2021

Hi Niraj,

I'm very sorry to hear about what happened. Please refer to this support ticket for more information regarding your contract and please allow a bit more time for our team to follow up with you on the same ticket.

Thank you.

~ Aleksandar